The application of medical devices, such as hearing aids, implantable pacemakers, defibrillators, cochlear implants and other such functional electrical stimulation devices, are becoming more widespread as their advantages and benefits become more widely appreciated throughout the population.
In particular, cochlear implants have been developed to assist people who are profoundly deaf or severely hearing impaired, by enabling them to experience hearing sensation representative of the natural hearing sensation. In most such cases, these individuals have an absence of or destruction of the hair cells in the cochlea which naturally transduce acoustic signals into nerve impulses which are interpreted by the brain as sound. The cochlear implant therefore bypasses the hair cells to directly deliver electrical stimulation to the auditory nerves with this electrical stimulation being representative of the sound.
Cochlear implants have traditionally consisted of two main parts: an internal part and an external part. The external part includes a speech processor unit and a transmitter coil. The internal part includes an implanted receiver/stimulator unit and an electrode array. The external speech processor unit is typically carried in a pouch or removably clipped on the clothing, such as a belt, worn by the user using a clip. Its main purpose has been to detect sounds using a microphone and then convert the detected sound into a coded signal through an appropriate speech processing strategy.
This coded signal is then sent to the receiver/stimulator unit, which is typically implanted in the mastoid bone of the user, via a transcutaneous radio frequency link. The receiver/stimulator unit processes this coded signal and outputs a series of stimulation sequences. These sequences are transmitted to appropriate electrodes of an electrode array by respective electrically conducting wires. The array is positioned proximal to the modiolus of the cochlea such that an electrical stimulus output by the electrodes is then applied to the auditory nerve.
For infants born with sensorineural hearing loss, studies indicate that it is desirable to implant a cochlear implant as soon as possible after birth. This is because if an infant is to develop an ability to understand and process sounds such as speech, the brain must learn to receive and process signals representative of sounds in the first few years of life.
A problem with infants and even small children is that small children are not aware of the importance of their external speech processor unit and often do not notice when the unit has become detached from their clothing. Children are also naturally inquisitive and as they get older will often detach the speech processor unit from their clothing to examine the unit or pass it among their friends. This often results in the unit being mislaid. When a group of children having cochlear implants play together it is also not unknown for these children to detach their external speech processor units and swap them with those of their friends. As the units are programmed to meet the hearing needs of that particular child, this often results in the unit being reported as faulty by the parents or guardian of the child when in fact the child no longer has their original unit. Further, the child can experience pain and discomfort as a result of using a speech processor that has not been programmed for their particular needs. Further, as children are typically active, it is not uncommon for their external units to be dislodged during regular activity, which can result in the child losing the unit or the unit becoming damaged or destroyed upon dislodgement. As replacement units are expensive and not readily available, such loss or damage can result in the child being without the benefit of the device for extended periods of time until a replacement unit is available.
With regard to adults, it is common for many adult cochlear implant recipients to prefer to use a body-worn external processor for particular conditions, such as in a work or home environment, as opposed to a behind-the-ear processor which is more preferable when mobility and aesthetics is an issue. One of the main problems with body-worn processors is that they are often attached to the body by way of a removable fastener, for example, a belt clip. Whilst such an attachment mechanism allows the device to be easily removed when needed, it can also be uncomfortable to wear and can often be inadvertently dislodged through normal body movements, which can cause unnecessary irritation to such recipients. Further, a dropped processor can be very easily damaged, resulting in inconvenience to the user while the unit is being repaired.
It is desirable to improve upon the above identified shortcomings.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.